When Marion Hageman arrived in Wyoming as a schoolteacher, she fell in love with the state and its people.
"It was cozier but a bit wilder than Montana,” she said. “I liked the rural feel and the cattle ranches more so than farming."
Marion was born Nov. 21, 1923, on a farm outside of Vernon Center, Minnesota, delivered by her own grandmother who was the local midwife in their small rural community.
Now 102 years later, she’s still the matriarch of one of Wyoming’s most recognizable ranching and political families.
Marion's aunt was a superintendent of public instruction for several counties in central Montana, and both Marion and her sister followed in their aunt’s footsteps by getting their teaching certificates.
Following her graduation, Marion took a train to Montana and taught in one-room schoolhouses. From 1946-1952, she taught first through eighth grades in a much different world than today.
Also a talented artist, she would send home letters and illustrations of her new life on the frontier, sharing her adventures as she worked to give a good education to the rural children.
“They all had teacherages, so she would live in the schoolhouse, and some of the kids would arrive on horseback,” her daughter, congresswoman Harriet Hageman, told Cowboy State Daily. “She was teaching in Montana when the '49 blizzard hit.”
When the laws in Montana changed to require a four-year degree to teach school rather than a two-year degree, Marion met the requirements, but her sister did not.
The pair decided that Wyoming was a better fit so her sister could also teach.
She attended the University of Wyoming to earn a master’s degree, but also had to teach to make money.
It was while teaching in Douglas that Marion met Jim Hageman.
He had just returned from being in the Army and was stationed in Germany during the Korean War. Now he wooed the young schoolteacher.
They were married May 19, 1956, and went on to have six of their own children.
Marion and Jim Hageman as newlyweds in 1956. (Courtesy Harriet Hageman) 
Marion and Jim Hageman as newlyweds in 1956. (Courtesy Harriet Hageman) 
Jim and Marion Hageman raised their children and foster children on a ranch along Cotton Creek in Wyoming. Pictured on the homestead are her daughter Harriet Hageman and grandson Lane Hageman. (Courtesy Harriet Hageman)
Life On The Ranch
The couple went into a partnership with a sheep rancher 60 miles north of Douglas, where it didn’t rain for over five years.
Fortunately, they had an opportunity to buy their own land for their growing family and moved off the sheep ranch.
It was 1961 when Jim and Marion bought their ranch northwest of Fort Laramie, out on Cottonwood Creek.
The next year, their fifth child, Harriet, was born — the same year that their oldest daughter turned 5 — and they were more than $200,000 in debt, which by today's numbers is about $2 million.
“When they brought me home from the hospital, they had five little kids and $35 in the bank,” Harriet Hageman said.
They lived in the home for eight years before acquiring more land and a larger home for their family.
That original house burned down, with all the cherished family memories, last year during the Hartville Fire.
To raise her family, Marion retired from teaching and became a rancher.
“She loved being outside,” Harriet said. “To this day, she is still constantly asking about how the cattle market is doing and if my brothers are receiving good moisture this year.”
The ranch was such a large part of her life that Marion enjoys hearing how it is doing even though she is no longer part of the day-to-day operations.
Her son Hugh now runs the family ranch and keeps her up on how it is doing.
Marion Hageman would send illustrations to her parents to depict her life in the teacherages in Montana. (Courtesy Harriet Hageman) 
Marion Hageman would send illustrations to her parents to depict her life in the teacherages in Montana. (Courtesy Harriet Hageman) 
Marion Hageman made political signs for her husband, Jim, when he ran for the Wyoming House of Representatives. (Courtesy Harriet Hageman)
An Artist And Mentor
One of Marion’s passions is art.
Throughout her years as a schoolteacher, parent and rancher, she would illustrate the world around her.
“I just can't keep my fingers off of a pencil or crayon, or anything you can use to draw or make a picture,” Marion said.
In her current home at a nursing facility in Torrington, Marion keeps busy with her drawings.
“She is a free spirit,” Harriet said. “She still draws every time I go to see her. She's usually illustrating or painting stationery for others.”
This love of illustrating surrounds Marion and is one that she has shared with her family and students. Her subjects include bouquets of flowers and scenes with cattle near a creek or under a tree.
“With just a few lines and she can depict exactly what she's trying to depict,” Harriet said. “It can be a very simple drawing, which I think really shows her talent.”
Marion would send these illustrations in letters to her parents and once her children started leaving home, would regularly send them letters with her drawings of life.
She encourages others to follow her lead and draw the world around them.
“Whenever you see a pencil, pick it up and start drawing,” Marion said.
This encouragement has led several of her children to pursue art in their lives, and has also inspired one artist in particular to pursue that dream.
While she was teaching in Montana, Marion took her students on a field trip, and they came upon an accident where a man had driven his car into a creek.
She sat on a rock and drew the scene, which fascinated a 10-year-old student named Carl Jensen.
He immediately copied her and took up drawing.
This passion that she helped ignite led him to a lifetime of art. His bronze sculptures can be found around Wyoming, including in front of the courthouse in Wheatland, Thermopolis Museum and throughout the region.
“With just that one incident with mom and he ended up making a living as an artist and his daughters, too,” Harriet said.
A Legacy Of Love
One of the most impactful legacies that Marion has made was as a foster mom.
She had said that her one regret was that she only had six children herself instead of 12, so instead she went on to foster 40 children that she brought into her home and heart.
“There was a need in the community,” Marion said about why she fostered so many. "I was going to be out of children soon, so thought I should do it."
Marion wanted the kids to be well taken care of, and the best way to help was to do it herself.
Over the years, her foster children have remained a part of her life as she celebrated her 102nd birthday this month.
She also remembers well the children she taught in Montana in the one-room schoolhouse and the challenges these kids faced just to get an eighth grade education.
One student she remembers fondly was a youngster who was in a family of 13 kids who had to work to support the family.
For him to graduate, Marion set up her schedule around his. If he could do his schoolwork at night or on the weekend, she was there to teach him.
Not only did she help get him his eighth grade certificate, her encouragement led the young man to buy his own sawmill.
He bought it from Sears and Roebuck and became one of the largest employers and wealthiest men in his community.
This love still shines through as Marion continues to give away her illustrations and enjoy life, asking after the family ranch and looking forward to the visits from her close and extended family.
“Mom has led a very interesting life and she made that for herself,” Harriet said. “She really loves her family and she's a very unique woman and a lot of fun.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
